


Something Strange

by Iwritesinsnotfanfictions



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: 5/7 of Monsta X are ghosts, Abuse of Medication, Afterlife, Alternate Universe - Ghost Hunters, Angst, Basically, Changkyuns just vibing, Character Turned Into a Ghost, Comedy, Death, Ghosts, Horror, ITS HALLOWEEN SOON MFS, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Other, Trauma, but they don't die, jackson wang cameos, jooheon doesn't wanna be here, scary and spooky because guess what, some heavy stuff eventually
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-25
Updated: 2020-09-25
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:41:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26643172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Iwritesinsnotfanfictions/pseuds/Iwritesinsnotfanfictions
Summary: Jooheon has been living his life quiet and diligently, always working hard to achieve his dreams and live a good life. So what in the world did he do to deserve this?After being dared by his best friend to do a ghost hunting challenge, having to spend five nights in presumingly haunted places, Jooheon finds himself caught up between negative vibes, cheap ramen and some weird guy named Im Changkyun.
Relationships: Im Changkyun | I.M & Lee Jooheon
Comments: 5
Kudos: 6





	Something Strange

**Author's Note:**

> I'm back! And this is something completely different from my very first fanfiction and I'm super nervous about it! Hopefully this will get you all into a spooky-autumn-mood.

Jooheon flinched hard when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, almost giving him a heart attack. Being so lost in recording he completely forgot about his surroundings. He paused the playback playing on his laptop when it wouldn't stop vibrating and shoved the headphones of his ears. He fished his phone out of the pocket, still vibrating in his hand, too quick and irregular for someone to be calling him. Pressing the unlock button, he stared at the incoming notifications from a bunch of different apps, the latest three notifications being text messages from his friends saying

 _'He got you fucked up'_  
And  
_'Honey, sweetie I'm so sorry'_ with a laughing emoji attached.  
and also a twitter notification, being tagged by an account called @gunheeupdates.  
He scrolled down, past all of the notifications until he reached the very bottom of them, a single one being the first, which he only got a minute ago.  
Jooheon tapped on the notification. The Instagram app opened and he was directed towards a post from the user @sharp_gun_94.  
It was a picture of a video thumbnail, a big abandoned looking house in the back and Gunhees shocked face obnoxiously edited in front of it. Jooheon furrowed his brows and scrolled down in order to read the caption.

_'Challenge completed! Thanks to all of you guys, I was able to live through this. The whole video series is now up on my channel, link in bio! Now to get to the fun part, I nominate @Joohoneybee for the Five Nights Challenge! #fivenightschallenge #fivenightsatguns'_

"What the fuck…", Jooheon murmured under his breath, switching to the messenger app on his phone and immediately started texting his best friend.

_Are you kidding me?_  
_Me? Out of all people?_  
_Why would you do this to me_

After only a few seconds he got a reply

**#Gun**  
_Stop whining._  
_Remember when we got drunk and you made me record myself saying that One was a better rapper than I am?_

_…_  
_I see._  
_So this is how it ends_

Jooheon couldn't believe this. Gunhee, or Gun as he was known online, had started Youtube not too long ago and already gathered a huge following after uploading several rap covers but also the occasional mainstream challenge or gameplay video. Meanwhile Jooheon, who has been uploading videos on Youtube for years now, barely made it above 300.000 subscribers not too long ago and now his best friend actually just tagged him in some stupid challenge, daring him to go hunt ghosts or something.

**#Gun**  
_Don't be dramatic_

_What if I refuse, what are you gonna do?_  
_Dare me to shave my head?_

**#Gun**  
_Nope_  
_If you refuse you have to sign up for smtm9_  
_A special punishment just for you_

Oh. Hell. No.

**#Gun**  
_Come on are you really gonna let the whole world know that you're a chicken_  
_After I tagged you publicly_

_Shit. **Shit.**_  
Jooheon rubbed his face in frustration. Why him? What did he do to deserve this? He knew that if he refused, everyone he knew including their mothers would never let him live it down. But still. He already knew he would shit his pants the second he'd set a foot into some old creepy building all alone.

**#Gun**  
_You're also allowed to bring someone with you for assistance_  
_a cameraman for example_  
_Someone from your crew_

Crew? He didn't have a crew. He didn't even have a real set up. All he did was upload song covers for fun, usually with just a picture displayed, he didn't even have a fancy camera. But being allowed to bring someone along made the whole thing seem a lot easier.  
_Fuck it._ If getting chased and eaten by ghosts meant bringing more attention to his Youtube channel and maybe even to his own music on Soundcloud, he'd do it.

_okay, I'm in_  
_But in return you have to promote my soundcloud on your channel and your instagram for the next 5 posts_

**#Gun**  
_Deal_

Jooheon then went to look up the 'Five Nights Challenge', just to make sure he knew the exact circumstances. Seconds later he found himself on a twitter post saying:

_Attention Tubers! This is a new challenge for only the bravest amongst you. You will have to spend five complete nights in different haunted/abandoned locations, with video proof. Let's hunt those ghosts! #fivenightschallenge_

A row of tagged usernames followed and Jooheon exited the app. Who in their right mind would come up with such stuff? More importantly, why would anyone do the challenge? People were absolutely batshit and more than ever, he felt ready to leave this shithole of a planet.  
He sighed and sank down in his chair before trashing around on it and letting out a row of whiny sounds.  
Great. Awesome. He wished he could take back everything he just texted Gunhee. Spend the night there? That was definetely too much. How was he supposed to survive this?

_About to yeet myself into the sun_

He texted Jackson.  
Jackson was another friend of his, whom he knew ever since he first came to Korea from China, and the two immediately clicked. Jackson was also in the music business, but way more successful than Jooheon or even Gunhee. With actual tours and stuff, even though they started out together.  
He was about to text Gunhee when he saw another notification and clicked on it. Instagram opened again and he was directed to @sharp_gun_94's story. A completely black picture with gifs of little cartoon ghosts and skeletons bopping their heads back and forth.

_Challenge accepted. Go follow @joohoneybee for updates!_  
_#fivenightschallenge #fivenightsathoneys_

Well, at least Gunhee already made an effort. The next thing he needed to worry about now was getting hold of a camera, and someone crazy enough to spend five nights with him at some haunted place.  
_Haunted place?_ How was he even supposed to know if a spot was haunted or not? Did he look like some kind of medium or something?  
Jooheon leaned over his desk and closed the program on his laptop with one mouse-click, before wheeling himself away from his set up with a kick to the desk. There was no way he could finish recording something decent now. He was way too riled up.  
Then he got another message and felt like he was ready to throw his phone out of the window.

**Jackson**  
_I can't believe you accepted_  
_Are you crazy?_

_I actually think I am_  
_It's too late to back out now_  
_Omg what have I done_  
_I'm such an idiot_

**Jackson**  
_Come on no you're not_  
_You're super brave bro_  
_I'll support you so hard_

_thanks_  
_Can't you go with me?_  
_And do you have a camera I can borrow?_

**Jackson**  
_Nah dude I'm super busy_  
_And also not mental_

That would've been too good to be true, but it was worth a try, even though he knew Jackson was busy with album promotions.  
Jooheon only send a sad emoji.

**Jackson**  
_But I may have a guy for you who knows his way around this kinda stuff._  
_Ghosts and everything. I‘ll contact him if you want._  
_Good luck bro_

_Thanks_

Jooheon let his phone fall into his lap. He was done. He was done with everyone and everything. The realization hit him once again and he burrowed his face in his hands.  
"Jooheon you absolute moron.", he murmured to himself.  
At least Jackson would send over someone he knew who'd help him out. Now he only had to worry about not pissing his pants on camera.

When Jooheon woke up the next day he almost forgot about his fate. Almost.  
But as soon as he remembered he let himself fall back into the sheets. He rubbed his face and groaned while trying to shield his eyes from the light. The sun was shining brightly onto his face and one look at his phone told him that it was already 3pm.  
He actually did find the motivation to record again yesterday and didn't finish until after 4am. So now he was tired and in a bad mood. But being in a bad mood wouldn't solve his problem. So the best thing to do when he was frustrated was to do what he always did. Make music. After getting ready and having a quick breakfast while mumbling "Stupid challenge, stupid Gunhee, stupid ghosts" to himself the whole time, he was ready to put on his shoes and head out for the day but the ringing of his doorbell said otherwise.  
Jooheon froze. He wasn't expecting anyone. And it was a rather unusual time for a package delivery. Slowly he crept up to his front door, careful not to make a sound so whoever was outside wouldn't know he's actually there and looked through the doorviewer. No one there.  
"Huh?"  
Did someone actually deliver a package and left it there because he took too long? Jooheon jerked the door open, only to be met by an unfamiliar face.  
He let out a surprised "Oh" and stumbled back a bit.  
"Hi." The guy in front of him grinned. He had messy brown hair, a big nose and an eyebrow piercing.  
"The name's Im Changkyun. I heard you're looking for someone to go ghost hunting."  
Im Changkyun? Jooheon tried to remember someone named Changkyun.  
Wait. _Ghost hunting_?  
Oh, so that's the guy Jackson was talking about!  
"Oh, uh yeah. C-come in."  
He really didn't expect him to just come to his apartment like that. He could've at least texted him beforehand. He also didn't expect him to show up the actual next day.  
Jooheon would've loved some anxiety-preparation-time.  
With a nod and a polite smile, Changkyun stepped into the apartment and Jooheon closed the door behind him.  
"Do you uh…"  
This was horrible. Jooheon wasn't that bad around people, he just wasn't good with surprises. And this guy definetely caught him off guard. He kept glancing at the messy couch he had slept on.  
"Do you want something to drink?" he asked and gestured Changkyun into the direction of his small kitchen table.  
"No, I'm good thanks." He said and sat down before looking up at Jooheon, expectant. Jooheon started to feel squirmish. What was he supposed to do now? Discuss business matters?  
Then it hit him.  
"Oh, shit, sorry. I'm Lee Jooheon." He extended one hand and Changkyuns smile grew when he grabbed and shook it.  
"Well, nice meeting you Jooheon. So, you wanna go ghost hunting? Are you into this kind of thing?"  
Jooheon nodded and sat down on the opposite side of the table. Then he quickly shook his head.  
"No, I'm actually not into that. At all. But a friend basically dared me to do it. And now here I am."  
Changkyun hummed and nodded. Then it was silent. Jooheon couldn't stand it.  
"And you?" He started and fumbled with the cords of his hoodie. "Do uh…do you like…believe in ghosts?"  
Changkyun cocked his head to the side and stared at him without saying anything. Jooheon realized that that was a weird thing to ask someone who obviously was into this whole occult thing.  
"I mean…are you like…scared of ghosts? Because I definetely am."  
"Me? Nah. I don't think ghosts are scary." Changkyun kept smiling and Jooheon felt himself ease up.  
He seemed really nice and Jooheon was desperate for someone to accompany him. He started thinking about them having to sleep in some scary, abandoned building with blood oozing out of the walls and pentagrams being drawn on the floor when his string of thought got interrupted.  
"So, when do we start?" Changkyun asked.  
"I haven't really thought about that. If I'm honest, I don't even wanna go. I have no idea when and where to start." Jooheon admitted and looked at his hands. He still kind of wished something would happen so he didn't have to do this. Maybe if he was able to procrastinate the whole thing for long enough, people would forget about it.  
"Well…how about tonight?"  
His eyes snapped up at Changkyun who just stared and smiled.  
"Tonight? As in todays night?"  
"Yeah, why not? I know a spooky place we could check out. All we need is a camera and some audio equipment. And I brought the camera." He tapped the strap of the backpack he had been carrying on one shoulder.  
„Unless you‘ve got something else planned today.“  
„Uh, no, today is fine I guess.“, Jooheon was taken slightly aback.  
He really didn’t have anything planned. He was currently unemployed, his Youtube money and occasional composing jobs being just enough to pay for the tiny one room apartment and the small studio he shared with another friend. There have been way too many days on which he went to bed hungry. 

"Fuck it." Jooheon then sighed, resigned.  
Exactly. He wasn't going to get out of this, might as well get it over with.  
They both rose to their feet at once and Jooheon noticed that Changkyun was a bit shorter than him, not much though. Jooheon quickly went to grab a backpack, stuffing some blankets, a water bottle and a flashlight inside. Upon asking Changkyun if he wanted one too, he replied he already had everything he needed.  
So they left the apartment and one minute of awkward silence in the elevator later, they exited the building, the cool spring air hitting them in the face.  
Jooheon actually wasn‘t someone who got scared easily.  
Yes, ghosts and other supernatural beings terrified him but considering the part of city he lived in, he actually was pretty brave. It consisted mainly of sketchy clubs and bars, apartment complexes with low rent and abandoned buildings. The walls of the building he lived in were covered in graffiti and missing persons posters, the same that had already been there for the past few years. He was pretty sure he once saw someone deal cocaine on the other side of the street.   
They made their way to the bus station, in order to get to Jooheons studio and get the necessary audio equipment. Changkyun was actually quiet talkative, ranting about what places they could check out and which types of 'entities' they should avoid. Jooheon eased up, even though these things were the last he wanted to talk about right now. But Changkyun really seemed to know a lot about this.

Arriving at their destination, Changkyun stayed outside while Jooheon climbed the stairs of the building to get to the studio room. He knocked before entering and was met with his friend Soonyoung, who sat in front of his laptop, his back turned towards him.  
Slowly, Jooheon made his way over there and lightly tapped him on the shoulder. Soonyoung flinched and turned around in his chair, ripping the headphones off his head but immediately relaxed when he saw Jooheon.  
"Are you crazy? You almost scared me to death! What are you doing here, did I mess up the time? I thought you were gonna be here in the morning."  
"No, no, I'm just here to get some mics. Did you see what Gunhee tagged me in yesterday?"  
"Oh yeah, this ghost challenge. So you're actually doing it?" He turned around once to pause whatever he'd been playing on his laptop.  
"Yeah, I guess. I found someone to go with me so it's not that bad. He's a bit weird but it's fine. As long as I don't die.", he tried to joke but the circumstances still made him nervous. "Do you still have that Lavalier mic from when you were still doing Youtube?" Jooheon rummaged through various boxes with all kinds of equipment.  
In fact, the only video Soonyoung had ever uploaded was when he went to Bangkok with some of his friends. The video didn't even get a hundred views and he was so upset about it that he immediately abandoned the idea of becoming a Youtuber.  
"Uh, yeah I think it should be up there somewhere."  
Jooheon went to stand on his tip-toes and finally pulled an old Lavalier microphone from a box on the top shelf, putting it in his jacket, together with the pocket transmitter.  
"Awesome, thanks. I'll get going, pray for me to survive this." Jooheon made his way to the door and Soonyoung laughed.  
"I hope so, or else I have to pay for this shaggy studio myself. Well, good luck I guess."  
"Good to know that's all you need me for. See ya."  
With that he left the building and stepped out into the fresh air once more.  
Changkyun was leaning on the wall next to the stair case.  
"Did you get everything?"  
"Only a single Lavalier. But I guess if you're filming you won't really need a mic."  
Changkyun agreed and so they went back to the bus station, taking the bus into the direction they just came from.

Sitting in the almost empty vehicle couldn't feel any worse than it did right now. The lights were already on, due to the spring sun setting quickly this time of the year and the flickering and buzzing gave Jooheon a weird feeling of an altered reality.  
Leaning his head against the cold window, he replayed everything that had happened in the past twenty-four hours.  
His best friend Gunhee had tagged him in some stupid mainstream Youtuber challenge he actually agreed to because _apparently_ , he had a deathwish, then not a day later some random guy sent by Jackson named Changkyun just showed up at his place to film the whole ordeal and not even a day later he was already on his way to some place where spirits were going to try and eat his soul. This wasn't the most spontaneous thing he'd ever done. It was the stupidest.

Jooheon pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a sigh, before asking Changkyun for his backpack. He opened it in order to put the microphone inside when the camera caught his eye. He took it out and gave his seat neighbor a questioning look. Said shrugged and proceeded to watch Jooheon take the camera out of the protective case.  
"This looks expensive. Where did you get it?" Jooheon turned it in his hands a few times. They definetely wouldn't have a problem with getting good audio and video material with this thing.  
Changkyun hesitated.  
"If I told you I found it, would you think I stole it?"  
Jooheon furrowed his eyebrows and looked at him.  
"Uh yeah, probably."  
"Huh...then let's just say I somehow got my hands on it."  
"That sounds even more like stealing.", Jooheon deadpanned and put the camera away, but decided not to ask further. Yes, Changkyun was definetely strange. Really strange. But also definetely someone he would get along with.  
The bus came to a halt and Changkyun got up, Jooheon following him outside.  
"If you say so. Come on.", he grinned and started walking down the street.

They walked for about ten minutes before they arrived at an apartment complex at the end of a side street. Some of the streetlights weren't working, only a few illuminated windows in the buildings and the cloudy evening gloom made the playground in the middle seem incredibly creepy.  
Jooheon gulped and almost choked when Changkyun slapped him on the back.  
"Alright. Let's go then."  
He took a deep breath and nodded.  
"Let's go."


End file.
